By Barry Holbrook: Dillian Whyte finally emerged from the woodwork to post on Instagram today, saying that he’s “Looking forward to seeing everyone on 23rd of April” for his title challenge against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury at Wembley Stadium in London.
What’s unclear is if Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) has chosen to speak out due to his contractual obligations to help promote the fight with Fury or if he feels that it’s the right thing to do.
Promoter Frank Warren has already said that Whyte is in “Breach” of his contract for failing to help promote the April 23rd event. Dillian, 34, didn’t show up at the press conference launch for the fight, and he’s been silent on social media until today.
With a little over a week to go before the Fury vs. Whyte fight, there’s very little buzz at all about the fight.
Whatever interest that there would have been for this fight is gone, and you can argue that Whyte choosing not to help create interest is one of the factors why fans aren’t talking about the match.
I’m ready.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on the 23rd of April @wembleystadium . #LetsGooo!!!!@frankwarren_tv @btsportboxing @wembleystadium @vow_nutrition
–
–#vownutrition #furywhyte #btsport #dillianwhyte pic.twitter.com/9Td7RjhJ2l— Dillian Whyte (@DillianWhyte) April 13, 2022
“What’s going through his mind is, ‘I want to win this fight,'” said David Haye to iFL TV when asked what Dillian Whyte is thinking by choosing not to participate in the promotion of his April 23rd fight against Tyson Fury.
“By Tweeting, posting Instagram pictures, by getting on a private jet flying to London, that’s not going to increase his chances of victory when the first bell goes,” Haye continued in explaining why Whyte isn’t helping with the promotion of the mega-event.
“What that’s going to do is assist the promotion to make more money. His money is guaranteed. He might get a bit of the upside. I’m not sure what the deal is, but in his mind, eight million dollars is enough for him to turn up and have a boxing match.
“As far as I’m aware, he’s not contractually obligated to do any of the other stuff that people are saying to do. So in his mind, he’s saying, ‘Okay, I need to train for this fight. I need to give myself the best opportunity to do that. I need to train.
“‘Everything else is just a distraction. I’m going to give 100% to this and that’s it,'” said Haye in explaining why Dillian has chosen not to lend a hand in promoting the event with Fury.
What Haye is failing to point out is Fury’s promoters have a lot of money invested in this event after winning the purse bid with a $41 million bid.
It goes without saying that Whyte is burning his bridges with this money because it’s hard to imagine him getting a second chance if he loses this fight.
“I get it and I respect it because not many people would be ballsy enough to go against the usual system the whole boxing circus brings,” said Haye.
“Dillian Whyte is his own man, he makes his own decisions, and if he feels that he’s going to turn up at the press conference before the fight and weigh in before the fight, that’s all he’s going to do then that’s all he’s going to do.
“I actually like it because it shows me that he’s not in it other than to win. If I was promoting him, I’d hate it. I’d be pulling my hair out because that’s a lot of money to rustle up, to generate from this event to cover all the wages that have been paid and purses.
“But I’m looking from the outside, and if I was looking at an opponent to give Tyson Fury the most amount of problems, it would be someone that’s not interested in showing how great training is going. It’s just train, eat, sleep, get in there and win.
“Sure, we’ll see a face-off [on fight week]. Once he’s here, he’s here,” said Haye when asked if Whyte will do a face-off next week in the final press conference and weigh-in with Fury.
“I understand why he’s doing what he’s doing, and it’s kind of worked in his favor. It’s rustled a lot of team Fury. It’s a different way of doing things, but I respect it.
“The way to disarm someone that has great banter is not to be involved. Just disconnect from it, which he’s done. He’s done probably the best thing but it’s wound everybody else up. He’s probably sitting home laughing or in his gym in Portugal or wherever he is.
“It doesn’t phase him. So the psychological side of things, he’s won up to this point,” said Haye about Whyte.
If Whyte loses the fight to Fury, his career will be pretty much over anyway, so it probably doesn’t matter that he’s taken this path. Whyte’s career wouldn’t be impacted if he were a better fighter, and had the talent to beat Fury.
If that were the case, Whyte could choose not to promote any of his fights, and he’d still do well. Unfortunately, he’s a guy that isn’t an elite-level fighter, as we saw in his recent knockout loss to 41-year-old Alexander Povetkin, and his chances of beating Fury are quite low.
To be sure, Whyte has a puncher’s chance against Fury, but that’s it. He’s basically Chisora 2.0, and Fury is going to play with him for 10 rounds before we likely get a corner stoppage on April 23.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0Ux_FZU37o